Flat-earthers make two false claims about Polaris (a.k.a. the North Star, a.k.a. Alpha Ursae Minoris). One of these false claims is that Polaris remains motionless in the sky as all other stars circle it. That is the impression one gets by watching the sky over several hours. Even long exposure photographs and time-lapse videos seem to show this too. However, appearances can be deceiving.
The sky appears as a dome above one’s location. Since most celestial objects rise and set, it is easy to understand that what we see at any given time is just one half of a celestial sphere. There are two diametrically opposite points on the celestial sphere around which all astronomical objects spin once a day. In the conventional cosmology, these two points are the extension of the earth’s rotation axis to where it intersects the celestial sphere. We call these two points the celestial poles. Except at the earth’s equator, only one celestial pole is above the horizon. The north celestial pole is above the horizon in the northern hemisphere, while the south celestial pole is above the horizon south of the equator. Polaris is about three-quarters of a degree from the north celestial pole, so each day Polaris makes a circle in the sky with a three-quarter degree radius. That circle is too small to be readily noticed by the naked eye, and it is too small to be recorded by most photographs and time-lapse videos using...
A senior Iranian official has slammed the United Arab Emirates for being an aggressor, not merely a supporter of aggression, stating that the UAE cannot hide its aggressive nature and role behind ...